Congratulations To Bolivarian Socialism: Banning A TV Station Is Protecting Venezuela's Free Speech

Not that any of us have really expected any less than this from the Chavistas currently running Venezuela but they're now claiming that banning a TV station is a method of protecting Venezuela's free speech. The background to this is that CNN Espanol ran a program alleging corruption in the issuance of Venezuelan visas and passports. This is something that is not entirely unknown in consular activities from various countries. But the allegations are that this went further up the system. This is something that quite clearly the government didn't like being alleged and thus the ban:

Venezuela’s government pulled CNN in Spanish from the nation’s airwaves on Wednesday, shutting off the news channel after officials angrily criticized a report alleging the country’s diplomats sold passports to members of a Middle East terror group.

Lopez, 41, says he reported what he says was a scheme to sell passports and visas for thousands of dollars out of the embassy and repeatedly turned down offers to get a cut of the money. But it was the response from his government -- which has denied his allegations -- that surprised him the most.

We should be honest here. Consular officials trying to make a bit on the side is not an entirely unknown happening with diplomats from other nations. But that's not what the major point here is, rather, that the chain of those who knew went rather a long way up the system. Including, in at least one version of the story, the former interior minister who is now the Vice President. And that makes it more of an economic story for if we've corruption extending that far up the system then it makes much else that is happening more understandable.

It should be entirely obvious that recently past and current economic policies are not working. Thus we would expect to see people thinking about changing that policy. Instead we're seeing a doubling down on that policy that doesn't work. Which means one of two things. Firstly, that those who are doing the ruling just don't have a clue which is one popular explanation. The other is that they do but that the current arrangements suit those in power very nicely thank you very much. So, perhaps it isn't a good idea that there are three exchange rates, that privileged people get access to a specially low one. But that might suit those with that privilege just fine, because there's a lot of money to be made by gaining access to an artificially low exchange rate.

This is one of the reasons that we generally think that market prices are the correct ones to use. Because then there are no games that can be played, there is no privileged access possible through the deployment of political power.

You must make your own estimation of which is the correct explanation here, ignorance or perfidy.

Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission told cable companies to pull CNN en Español's signal immediately. It called the action a preventative measure and did not say when CNN en Español would be back on cable systems. The opposition-controlled National Assembly condemned the commission's decision as anti-democratic. It "gravely affects the human right Venezuelans have to be informed," the legislative body said in a statement. The commission accused CNN en Español of slander and distortion and said the network was acting in violation of the free speech rights protected by the Venezuelan constitution.

Yep, under Bolivarian socialism barring a TV station is a protection of free speech rights.